Recap: Union Drop Inaugural Match 2-0

SEATTLE, Wa.
(March 25, 2010) - On a rainy night in Seattle, the
Sounders and Philadelphia Union officially kicked off the 2010 MLS
season with an exciting affair from Qwest Field.

Starting out with a very aggressive
set-up, the Union fielded a young squad in their first-ever match that came out of the blocks
pressing the Sounders for the ball. Captained by Danny Califf, who saw a
yellow card under a minute into the match, Team Manager Peter Nowak
didn’t shackle his players’ style early on.

"We need to do better on both goals,
especially the first one,” reflected Team Manager Peter Nowak. “The ball
was coming inside and we have to cover it much better, especially on
runs from the second line. It was a good (first) 10 minutes and then the
goal was unexpected from something we didn’t cover very well. The
second goal actually was a byproduct of the red card because Toni Stahl
(who was ejected) was supposed to cover Montero on the back post.
Overall, the heart was there, we were playing our game, and with 10 men
it wasn’t a bad effort.”

Very back and forth in the opening 10
minutes, the Union began to see a good chunk of the possession, while
Seattle seemed content to see what the expansion club could bring at
them.

When the
Sounders did manage to get the ball, a Union player was on their back
chipping away trying to loosen the possession from the home side.
Working on the counterattack, Seattle were able to break the deadlock in
the 12th minute thanks to some lovely interplay.

Sweeping balls down the right resulted in
Fredy Montero holding the ball up just inside the box. He then played it
through to Zakuani on the wing, who quickly slotted back into the
middle of the area. Waiting on the edge of the 6-yard box was Brad Evans
who coolly slotted the ball into the far corner of the net.

It wasn’t long after the goal that things
got a bit more physical as Osvaldo Alonso took Union striker Alejandro
Moreno down from behind, warranting another yellow card, the match’s
second. Soon thereafter, Union rookie Toni Stahl picked up a yellow for a
late challenge on Freddie Ljungberg.

The Union’s best chance of the half up to
that point came in the 18th minute when Moreno was able to drop the ball
into former Sounders forward Sebastian Le Toux in the middle of the
area. Working his way around Tyrone Marshall, Le Toux lost his balance
before he could get a clean shot on Kasey Keller, who snatched the ball
up confidently to avert a tying goal.

Things settled down in the middle portion
of the first half, with the Union getting some quality time on the ball.
Looking to work the ball along the wings to Roger Torres, the away side
was certainly pressing for an equalizer.

Their hopes at getting back in the game
took a huge hit in the 40th minute when Stahl went into the back of
Montero as they both rose for a flighted ball. The Finnish rookie’s knee
was a bit high and he was shown a second yellow, which meant his first
game in MLS would result in a send-off.

It didn’t take the Sounders long to
capitalize on the newfound strength in numbers as Montero was able to
extend the lead off of a Sounders corner. Put in by Ljungberg, the ball
was fisted out of the area by Union keeper Chris Seitz. Taking it on the
edge of the area, Alonso neatly bounced it back into the box to a
waiting Montero who nodded the ball past Seitz for the 2-0 lead in the
43rd minute. Completely unmarked, it’ll go down as one of the easier
goals the Colombian will score.

Playing out the last two minute in
desperate fashion, it was clear the Union were playing for the locker
room, a place that Seattle was happy to go in to being up 2-0.

Despite being down two goals and a man,
the Union came out in the second half pressing the ball once more,
trying to work one back and keep the match competitive.

Seattle were again content with letting
Union take possession of the ball and come at them as best they could.
It was the home team who won the first chance of the second half though
as a deep ball played into Seitz was parried by the keeper at the edge
of the box. Unfortunately for the former Salt Lake player, he played it
right to Steve Zakuani who barely missed slotting it into an open net.

Seattle had a nice chance in the 65th when
substitute Sanna Nyassi took the ball along the left side of the area.
Cutting inside a Union defender, Nyassi took a rip at the near side of
Seitz’s goal, only to see it cut by the post on the advertisement
backing.

Slow play
dominated the next 10 minutes of the second period as it appeared that
the teams had switched off and were ready for the final whistle. Using
the extra man to their advantage, the Sounders began to take their time
with the ball, not forcing the issue, but at the same time, eating up
tons of clock with each measured pass.

The best second half chance for the
Sounders came in the 82nd minute when they won a corner that Brad Evans
stepped up and took from the far corner. Winding the ball in, Evans
spotted Roger Levesque who had an open header. Nodding it wide, the
Canadian wasn’t able to add to the two goal advantage.

Unable to get anything back in the match’s
final minutes, the Union were forced to settle on a 2-0 result in the
Sounders’ favor in their inaugural MLS match. They’ll welcome D.C.
United to Lincoln Financial Field on April 10th in their home opener and
hope for a better result in front of the Philly faithful.

"We have a lot of work to do, but I think
we fought hard as a team, we ran a lot, we’re pretty fit," commented Danny Califf, who served as
Captain. "But there are
some areas we definitely need polishing. If we put that kind of effort
in we’ll get good results."